How to Hold a Pegboard Away From a Wall

Hanging pegboard allows you to quickly find the tool you need.

Hanging pegboard allows you to organize your hand tools, cooking utensils or craft supplies on the wall. The different pegboard accessories, such as hooks, baskets, bins and shelves lets you display your items, reducing the time it takes to find the tool you need for your project. Since the hooks on the back of the accessories must insert through the holes in the pegboard, you cannot attach the pegboard directly to the wall. You must attach pegboard to thin pieces of wood to hold it away from the wall and create the space required to install pegboard accessories.

1

Find the studs behind your wall board by sliding a stud-finder across the wall surface. Lightly mark the stud locations with a pencil or masking tape. Typical construction calls for a stud every 16 or 24 inches on-center depending on wall location and building design.

2

Measure the height of the pegboard. Use a saw to cut lengths of 2-by-2-inch pressure-treated wood equal to the height of the pegboard. The number of lengths depends on the width of your pegboard. For example, a 48-inch width of pegboard would require four lengths of wood for 16-inch on-center studs and three lengths of wood for 24-inch on-center studs.

3

Place one piece of wood against the wall and over a stud. Once you become satisfied with the final position of the wood, use a drill to drive a 4-inch wood screw through the wood and into the stud about two inches down from the top of the wood.

4

Hold a level against the side of the wood. Slide the piece of wood to the right or left until the bubble inside the level’s glass tube floats between the two vertical lines marked on the glass. Once the level indicates the wood is straight, drive an addition wood screw through the wood about two inches up from the bottom of the wood. Drive an additional screw through the middle of the wood or every 2 to 3 feet depending on the height of the wood.

5

Place a second piece of wood over the next stud in the wall. Ask an assistant to hold the wood against the wall as you place the level on top of the wood attached to the wall and the wood held by your assistant.

6

Move the second piece of wood up or down until the bubble inside the level’s glass tube floats between the two vertical lines marked on the glass. Once the level indicates the top of the second piece of wood is level with the top of the first piece of wood, drive a wood screw through the wood about two inches down from the top of the wood.

7

Repeat the steps to attach additional pieces of wood to the wall at each stud to equal the width of your pegboard.

8

Place your pegboard on top of the 2-by-2-inch pieces of wood attached to the wall. Drive 1-inch wood screws through the top edge of the pegboard and into the top of the wood pieces attached to the wall. Drive additional wood screws through the pegboard every 6 to 8 inches down the pegboard and into each of the lengths of wood.

9

Make sure the width of your pegboard does not extend past the outside edges of the 2-inch by 2- inch pieces of wood at each end of the board. Use a mini utility saw to trim away any pegboard extending past the pieces of wood if necessary.

About the Author

Cecilia Harsch has been writing professionally since 2009. She writes mainly home improvement, health and travel articles for various online publications. She has several years of experience in the home-improvement industry, focusing on gardening, and a background in group exercise instruction. Harsch received her Certified Nurses Assistant license in 2004. She attended Tarrant County College and studied English composition.